Facebook-owned Oculus slapped with patent infringement lawsuit again

Facebook's VR unit Oculus is again under fire.

It seems like trouble is not going to leave Oculus's side anytime soon. The virtual reality unit of Facebook has been slapped with another lawsuit alleging it incorporated a lesser-known competitor's patented technology into its Rift headsets without authorization.

As reported by Reuters, a California-based technology licensing firm called Techno View IP Inc. sued Oculus on Thursday for infringing a 3D-imaging technology. According to the lawsuit filed by the licensing company, Facebook-owned Oculus has infringed on an existing patent called "Method For Generating The Left And Right Perspectives In A 3D Videogame".

This technology is responsible for simultaneous generation of left and right perspectives in a 3D video game, which can be played only on a virtual reality headset.

While the patent is originally held by VR headset manufacturer ImmersiON-Vrelia, it allowed Techno View to litigate the patent on its behalf. Techno View also accuses Oculus of infringing on many other technologies owned by ImmersiON-VRelia, related to the same technology.

The lawsuit states that Manuel Novelo, the chief executive of ImmersiON-Vrelia, has attained a number of patents related to VR technology between the years 2003 and 2006. In February this year, another lawsuit was filed against Oculus.

ZeniMax Media Inc claimed that Facebook's VR division used a copyrighted computer code developed by one of its employees. The case went in favor of the former and Oculus ended up paying a whopping amount of $500,000.

However, lawyers for Oculus and Facebook have said that the battle is yet to get over as they plan to file an appeal against ZeniMax Media.